mon, 21-nov-2005, 18:04
The salmon I smoked yesterday turned out really good. I vacuum packaged it righ t after I got back from Chitina back in June, and the fillets were still bright red when I pulled them out of the freezer. I marinated two fillets for half an hour in 1/2 cup of pickling salt (and enough water to fill up the ziplock), rins ed them off, and then marinated them overnight in 1/2 cup pickling salt, 1/2 cup brown sugar and 1 tablespoon black pepper. I smoked them for 3 hours on my cha rcoal smoker using soaked mesquite chunks for the smoke. I normally use alder I cut from the yard, but it was below zero yesterday and I got lazy and used the store-bought mesquite chunks. I think mesquite gives a more bacony flavor, whil e the alder has a more resinous, traditional flavor. BTW, the FoodSaver I used to vacuum package the salmon has been a great purchase . The difference between the salmon I froze in ziplock bags the previous summer and the salmon that's been vacuum packaged is like, well, grey old salmon vs. b right red fresh salmon. I occasionally have a problem where the sealer doesn't quite seal the bag, but now I just double-seal each bag and I haven't had an iss ue since.
tags:
food